Dear friends at home I again seat myself to pen a few lines

New Orleans
Oct 2th [18]64
Dear Friends at home
I again seat myself to pen a few lines to you to let you know of my welfair[.]  I am still at my Uncles and am feeling quite well for this climate but am quite weak yet[.]  I reseived a few lines from you with Dars photograph a short time ago in a letter to boy John and I reseived another letter from you last night dated the 30 of Aug. in which was the song when Johnny comes marching home.  Well I heardley know wheat to write for you say that my letters are not half long enough but you must not forget wheat heard work it is for me to write a letter[.]  You spoke about going up to Ms Keptestolls to get the 5 Dolors [dollars] that Dick owed me but they sead that I owed him.  Well that is a lie and I can proove it for I bought my valice of John England for 1 Dolar and if I ever see Dick Keptestoll again I will have the money or else he will suffer for it and you may tell his brother so.  Now you say that you canot think of wheat to write[.]  Well I want you should write all about the farming and the gearding [gardening] wheather you have plenty of currants this year and wheather the grapevine bore eny or not.  Tell father that I wish he would get Mr Morison to show him how to trim it and have the frame fixt up so that when I come home I can see a nice arbor[.]  Well tea is ready and I must go down to supper[.]

Oct 6th [3rd]
Well I close my writing last night to go to supper and after supper I went to stay all night with a Widow Willard of this place wheir Uncle is agoing to move to in a few days.  Well now I want to know all about the gearding if you had eny melons this year and if you had good luck making pickles and if you had eny garding out by the bearn [barn][.]  Now I want you should write all about the farming[,] geardning and housholde labors[,] for the least thing interests me[.]  Also write about how the neighbors getalong you have never heardly mentioned Hiram Picket yet whether you liked him or not and how he gets along a farming.  I want to know how you and Mr. Shearp gets along if ower cattle and horces have eats all his pastures up this sumer.  You will probley think that I am foolish to want to know all these simple things but they are wheat is mostly in my minde so of corse [course] I want to heare all about it.  I want to know if Chearley and Hary ever say eny thing about me[.]  till [tell] them that I have not forgotten them and that I would send them some presents if it was possible but it is not so they must excuse me[.]  tell Aut that I am very sory that he does not think enough of me to write a few lines and let me know how he gets along at home[.]  Now about the girls[,] tell them that they ever have a brothers love while I live and that I like to hear from them all[.]  I do not answer all their letters persenly [personally] to them but when I write I write to you all and I expect you all to answer them[,] father not excused[,] for I address most all of my letters to him.  Well now I must tell you a little about Uncle[.]  Aunt Kate left N.Y. just 1 year ago to day for home and since then they have ben living on a rented lott but their time is up now and they will move in a few days[.]  they have ben trying ever since I came here to get redy to come north but are not ready yet but they calculate to come as soon as they can[.]  they are agoing to sell all their furniture[,] bead [bed] clothing and crockery in fact most every thing that they have.  Their calculations wer to go to a bording house but the widow Willard that I spoke about offerd them hur house all funished to live in if they would bord [board] hur two little boys and they excepted [accepted] the offer and as she was alone and Uncle could not move rite away I have ben up and stayed all night with hur for sevrell days past.  I have felt quite at home for the last fortnight for I have ben helping Aunt clene [clean] up the house and furniture reday [ready] for sail [sale] and to day I have ben taking down the glass globes from the gas lites and weashing [washing] them[.]  Aunt thinks that you must of learnt me how to weash glass weair [ware] for she says that I done it better than she could her self.  You must not mention in your letters to Uncle about me helping them clean house for I do not know whether they will like it or not to have me write you about it.

Oct 4th
I again resume my pen to finish my letter to you.  You wanted to know about the priseners that was taken up at Doyls plantation.  Well they wer all exchanged in about 3 weeks and sent back to their regiment.  I do not know much about the boys that came from ower place for I have not heard from them since I left the regiment but Dave Banford is dead[.]  I suppose that you have heard of his death ear [ere] this[.]  Well I should like to know all about the draft and who is drafted also tell me wheat regiments that Eunack Botham enlisted in and Henry Harison and others that I am aquanted [acquainted] with.  Tell the girls to write to their cousins down here.  Aunt Kate says that she wants you should hury up them warm green buisket for supper and some of them nice potatoes for breekfast.  Aunt has told me meny things to write home when we have ben to worke but I canot remember them.  The first time that I went up to stay with the Window Willard it was raining quite heard and I did not get up their untill it was quite late so I could not get in and had to come back home and they had all sorts of fune [fun] with me about going to see the Widow and she would not let me in[.]  Well I think that this letter is long enough for it is 3 days long so I will close by asking you to write often to your son.
John Revillo Sunderland